Forums > Travel Yunnan > Laos questions Laos!
You can easily look it up on Google, but I think one can buy a tourist visa on the Lao border in Mengla/Boten.
You can make it from the China border to Vientiane in two days by bus if you just want to bust ass to get down there. Go from the border to Laung Prabang which is about eight hours of mainly twisty driving, then another 10 hours of driving from Laung Prabang to Vientiane. Last year, I went from Phnom Penh to Laos and traveled Laos from Cambodia to China. This was my fifth trip in Laos and it is my favorite country in SE Asia.
My suggestion from China border to Vientiane is to go from the border to Laung Namtha (Laung Namtha is a nice, laid back town with trekking tours to tribal backcountry areas. I did not do this because I did the trip from Cambodia and by this time just wanted to go home. I loved Laos ( been there five times and LOVE the country) and had a ball there.
Laung Namtha to Laung Prabang (L.P.).Do the falls near L.P. you can swim in the pool under the falls. Even if it is winter and it is too cool, do the park because it is beautiful. The town, although small, is nice and geared towards foreign tourists and is on the Mekong. Mostly good restaurants and whatnot. I called it Vang Vieng for adults (see below). I did eat one shit meal there (a pizza), but in travelling, that is sometimes par for the course. I would suggest trying to eat more local fare, and/or something more asiatic like fried rice. I love rice and can eat it almost everyday. In Laotian cooking, they have sticky rice that one can ball up in their hands to soak up the sauces and gravy of the main course. The only thing Asian about me is my love and adoration for the holy grain.
From L.P. is Vang Vieng, probably the most open party spot in SE Asia. This town is geared towards partying travelers with all kinds of substances to party with (if that is your bag). The river is also famous for tubing, which in recent years has become "too famous" with idiot young people who get too drunk or smoke too much dope and drown without being careful. I was weed and alcohol sober (honest) and I managed to fall off the tube and needed help to get back to shore! Really wanted an ice cold Beer Lao, but my money and my hotel key went down the river to Cambodia! It is a beautiful place, in 2005 I went on a hike and went into a cave, and saw the biggest ass bee hive ever. Lots of lovely nature there. Has similar karst mountains one would find in Guilin. One can rent motorbikes there (as well as other places in Laos) and look around oneself.
Near Vang Vieng is the Organic Farm. Google that. They grow fruit like Mulberry and also have a school where they invite foreign travellers to teach a lesson. If you are Chinese who can spak putonghua they would also welcome you too. I rode out there on a motorbike to the school, but could not get much information from them about when the lessons are. But it does exist, the Organic Farm does have a website and does rent rooms for people who want tomgetmout of downtown Vang Vieng. Thee are a couple of upscale Vang Vieng hotels with swimming pools and what not. I sort of splurged there and got a great room for about 20 USD a night.
It is safe in Vang Vieng, but one must be careful on the river and do not do any of the drugs, outside of the lettuce. It is a fun place, but at 45, I sort of outgrew the place on my last trip. On the last trip, like I said, I did the whole country from Cambodia, so I was a bit tired when I came there.
Vientiane is cool, but it is a bit boring for more than a full day. I did the Buddhist park, but it was small and a bit disappointing, also, it was hot as hell when I went (in July) and I had a bit of the poops. Vientiane does have some nice and good restaurants near the river, amd it is a fairly clean city, without beggars, touts and garbage one would normally see in most SE Asia places. I was a bit disappointed that there were some hookers trolling about, but they are easy to avoid and will not bother you if you do not want their services. Vientiane has also grown A LOT. It is big, but not China city big. Very say to get around. There to Bangkok takes about eight hours by train. Cross to Nong Khai Thailand and then take the train to Bangkok. A good town to stop from Nong Khai to Bangkok to spend the night in Udon Thani. Udon is modern, with shopping, bars and whatnot. I stopped here from taking a train from Bangkok to Vientiane.
One nice thing about Laos is that there is You Tube and Facebook as of 2012 and most everywhere has WIFI. That's nice. Basically got to gorge on some YouTube there. The food is also delicious. Eat Laap. It is very spicy. The first time I had it, I liked it, but it blew my head off from the heat. In Vang Vieng, I had it again, but asked for less heat. Still hot as hell, but good. If you are someone who doesn't want local food, their twist on foreign food is still good. Really, the Laotians need to do their socialist duty and teach Chinese cooking and beer brewing.
On the Laos/Cambodia border is a place called 4000 Islands, which is sort of a poor man's Vang Vieng, with the lettuce, laid back people, bars and whatnot. From Cambodia, one gets on a motorized canoe and cross into Laos and just relax. There are some waterfalls there, which I could not find, and it is very rural, which I enjoyed after being in China. I really liked the food there ( in all of Laos). Very fresh, cheap and delicious.
I always have to bitch about something.......and for Laos.......
The people are LAZY FKS and nothing runs on time. I remember leaving Vang Vieng expecting the bus to go at 9 AM and it did not go until after 10. I did not really care when it left, but it would have been nice to eat some breakfast and relax and know when we are going to leave. An older ethnic, nie Chinese man schooled me on the place, saying that it is a Communist nation, and people do not follow the clock and that is the way it is and there is no reason to get pissy about it. I am truly a mostly laid back person, but I like to know when the bus leaves. I can sleep an extra bit, I can while away at breakfast longer, I can do whatever with my time.
Second, the busses stop everywhere and anywhere. From 4000 Islands going north, the bus stopped in every village, hamlet and town. EVERY FKING ONE. The bus from Pakse to Savannakhet was only 250 kilometers and it took like 10 hours to get there. The road was fine. Smooth, two lane, as good as any road anywhere. But all the stops and starts, stops and starts, stop and starts, hour after bloody hour. I was thinking at the start that we would be there by dinner time, when we ended there at 11 PM. Fking sucked ass. Be prepared. I will say that the countryside was lovely and I enjoyed myself. I would have enjoyed Savannakhet if we would have gotten there on time.
Third, their stupid money. The Lao Kip runs about 8000 to 1 USD or 1250 to 1 RMB. Laos...drop the THOUSANDS. Eggs and toast should be 26 kip, not 26 thousand kip. Give me a break. The smallest kip in 1000. Thankfully now, the biggest kip is 100,000. When I was there in 2005, the biggest kip was 20,000, which was about 2 bucks American. A 100 dollars bought a bag full of 5000 kip. Now, their money is a lot better than before, but still a bit ridiculous.
Fourth...not really a complaint, and Cambodia is the same, the bars close early, like at 11:00. In 2005, I and some expats were in a bar in Laung Prabang (which is not there anymore, unfortunately, it was a nice beer garden bar) and begged themnto stay open until 12:00, and they really bitched about it and gave us the evil eye like it was 4 AM in China. There was a nice foreigner bar/restaurant in Phnom Penh (Green Vespa) that catered to tourists at the tourist lakeside did the same s..t. 11:30....we are closed, good night. No last call, no staying up until everyone left. 11:30, go away. WTF? I did find the infamous Sharkeys that stayed up all night, but this is about Laos and not Cambodia, so I digress. But Laos and Cambodia is like the cool old relative who drinks and parties with the young folks but goes to bed after the Jay Leno monologue.
Laos is a great country to see and there is no hurry to get through there. PDR...Please Don't Rush. If it were not for my Chinese wife, I would try to get an ESL job there.
